D161 Superintendent Answers Readers' Questions

Patch continues its conversation with Superintendent Barb Rains. , she discussed the challenges coming into the position. In Part 2, she talks about communication, district transparency and answers questions from readers.

PATCH: Clearly, communication is not something that's an empty word for you. You're really pushing that. What do you think you can do as superintendent to keep fostering the back and forth between parents and the district.

RAINS: What I'd like to do is develop a system of continuous communication. And I've done that as interim. I started off with parents news briefs and prior to the start of the school year, I was sending those electronic newsletters out--just one page--with a calendar, this is what's happening this month, these are items of interest ... to keep the parents abreast of what's happening that month. I developed that at the start of the school year and at the start because there was so much happening and so much that had to be introduced that I had to do it every two weeks with the goal being I would not bombard you with 500 e-mails. ... That's the type of continuous communication I have in place now.

The model of communication that was previous, in my opinion, was a very closed model, a very controlled model, which worked. I'm of the mindset where I want to know what you're thinking. I want to know your opinion. I want to be grounded in community values and beliefs, because that's basically the operation of the board. The board brings that to the board table with recommendations. I also want to be grounded in those values and beliefs, which is why we've done several surveys. Why we're capturing communication models that have consistencies, and parents are starting to be very comfortable picking up the phone or sending me an e-mail, which is where I'm trying to actually wind up with this process.

PATCH: What have you seen as challenges getting to all those parents and other stakeholders?

RAINS: Way back in the day, I did a study of the district to find out who is out there. What does our audience look like, so I know how to tailor the communication. ... We took the entire database of registered voters within our boundaries. We took our parent database and kind of layered them side by side and on top of each other and discovered that 23 percent of registered voters living within our boundaries are district parents. 77 percent are not. Which now as we move forward--and again we're in the midst of change--as we move forward in the process, because my other audience is internal, our internal staff and our students.

So now you have your different audiences. So how do you reach them? Which is why you'll see as this planning process unfolds, I'll be at every school's faculty meeting to talk to them about the process, to answer questions they have. You'll see there are two community advisory groups that are part of this process. One is district programs, the other is finances, which is important to everybody. Then the shareholders report, which is our first attempt to communicate with the whole school audience.

PATCH: Along with communication, one of the other things you've talked about is transparency. It's one of the things that was a complaint of the previous superintendent. The lack of transparency. What are the steps to show the transparency?

RAINS: For instance, to use the tax levy. In our process for the tax levy, when dean initially presented what the levy was and the process and it was like two months ago, I believe. There are steps: You have to publish it, you have to hold a hearing, on and on and on. And when it all came down in the committee meeting, the thrust of it was because we're taking such a conservative approach to our request, we were under the guidelines, we did not have to hold a hearing. ... We didn't have to do anything except let the board approve the levy. And I said no way. We told them we were going to have a hearing, we'll follow through with the hearing because we want to be transparent. ...

I don't want to say the previous administration wasn't transparent. I want to say that the current administration overcommunicates. ... Also when you listen to people and they know you're listening, it adds personal value, and that's how I think we have approached morale issues. If I walk down a hall in one of the schools, I'm typically stopped by one or two people, and they have specific questions, whether it be an HR question, whether it be a general question. Or just to say hello and have a chat. That's very rewarding that you're that approachable.

Bottom line, you don't need to make an appointment to see me. I'll be at the schools and at the events. ... You know, in HR you're literally the right hand of the superintendent, just in terms of policies and procedures and student hearings and those types of issues. You're kind of in training if that's a legitimate term (laughs) at that level.
PATCH: Do you use the same mechanisms to talk to teachers as you do parents and other stakeholders?

RAINS: Absolutely. We're all in it together for the same reason, and that's to ensure that the child in kindergarten right now has adequate resources throughout eighth grade. Bottom line. So what does that look like? It looks like we need to take our current model and become more efficient in staffing and in programming. And what does that roll out to when all is said and done? I can't answer that yet. But my job is to provide the education so that questions are answered and people understand the process.

The following are questions that were posted by Patch readers. Rains answered all the questions Frankfort Patch local editor Joe Vince presented. Any questions that were not presented were done so at Vince's discretion. Answers do not include questions of clarification by Rains, nor do they include Vince's responses.

Can our district close 1 school without increasing class sizes in the other district schools?

RAINS: That's pretty earlier to be talking about. I don't want to pre-empt the planning conversations. Right now, everything is on the table. But that question will be answered.

I've always known that low class sizes has always been important to this community.

Do you feel you are misleading the public when you state how many classrooms are empty at each elementary school when in actuality those numbers are not accurate? When you say empty classrooms are you talking about the Art, music , Special Ed, 843, reading specialist, social worker, and ELL classrooms? Where will these classes and specialist work? How can I trust your process when you're already giving the public false information?

RAINS: That conversation was baseline. The only hard evidence we had was enrollments. So I didn't mix apples and oranges. It was purely classroom teachers. There are a variety of methods to deliver art. There are a variety of methods for music. And because we don't know the model at this point in time, I wasn't going to mix the two. I was strictly talking about classroom sections for grades 1 to 4.

We do have those specialists, but if you recall back in our day, we didn't go to an art room. Art came to us, so I didn't want to mix anything or presuppose anything. I basically was only talking about the classroom teachers, not the specialists. I wanted to share the idea of capacity of schools.

How does Rains feel about young students moving from school to school to school? Children need stability not only in their homes, but in their schools, where they spend the majority of their day. Bouncing and busing kids around is not healthy for students.

RAINS: We run into those transitions now. From fourth grade to fifth and sixth grade to seventh. And kindergarten out. So we basically have those transitions now.

I know that there's a sense of loyalty--I'm kind of reading below the surface here--but there's also a continuity of programming within the district so that no matter what neighborhood school you go to, the programming is the same, the implementation is the same. If it's not the same, it's similar, because we are a district, and we have that collaboration district-wide for grades 1-4.

1) With the sudden shift in balance reserves from black during the elections to Red in just 8 months. Do you think there should be a FULL outside audit?

RAINS: We have audits in place. That's just part of our internal controls. Matter of fact, the auditor just presented the audit (at the Oct. 12 board meeting). That's a state-mandated internal control.

2) Have you and the BOE discussed selling off the land north of Rogas school to the current developer in Brookside Glen ?

RAINS: That's within our plans because I'm looking at a three-year plan. I wanted to put that in the mix just like I wanted to put in refinancing bonds.

3) Have you also had discussions about charging the Frankfort Square Park District for using your Fields and gyms? In my opinion they don't do a great job cutting the grass, maintenance on the infields is poor. Throw away that intergovernmental agreement and put it out for bid.

RAINS: Basically, we have an intergovernmental agreement in exchange for using our gyms and our facilities that in return, they take care of several things, most notably because of the weather the salting and the plowing of our school areas in terms of the playgrounds, the blacktopping, the parking. That's the main thing and that's very costly. It's always a possibility, but right now we're abiding by that intergovernmental agreement, and right now, if there were to be any changes to that agreement it would be a conversation at the board level between both boards.